Warped wooded coin trays

[millimoo]

I’ve picked up an old wooden coin cabinet, I’m guessing at 30-40 years old, that I’m cleaning up for my collection.  I think it’s a home made one, but much better than I could ever do.  It’s got 29 wooden trays (1 missing) with different coin sizes cut out as standard.  I’m fine with giving it a clean up, sanding down the box etc and I’m sure I could get some more felt to fill in a few missing rounds. 

The real problem I have is that a few of the trays have warped a little and do not pull out very easily.  Does anyone know if there is anything I can do to straighten them out?  They look like hard wood, about 7mm thick – 27cm x 25.5 cm.

Dave, puzzled in the UK!

[renegade3220]

Depends on how they warped.  Did they twist?  Did they just sag in the middle?  Are they warped another way?

My solution:  First, when wood warps it will most likely do it again given time.  With that said, I would remove the tray, lay it on a hard flat surface, and put evenly distributed weight on it, in the opposite direction of the warp.  If that makes sense.

I built a really nice cherry oak box 2 years ago.  However, I did not have  planar to take the warps out of the wood.  The box is only like 12x8 inches.  Anyways, the lid has a latch, but still tends to want to bow if left unlached.  If, and when, it does bow, I just put a college textbook on it, and the bow goes away.  It just happens...

[Enodia]

if it is a twisted warp (torqued), you can put a bar or dowell (any hard material will do) long enough to reach diagonally just beyond the warped corners. then do as renegade says and apply weight to the high corners. this should take the warp out in time.
adding steam will speed up the process, but this isn't always practical as the steam can loosen glued joints, mar the finish or wreck the felt.

~ Peter

[*Alex]

I have read that such warping is possibly due to modern central heating.
I have a coin cabinet which I purchased in the early 1970's. When it was new I could move the various trays around in the cabinet and they would always slide into place but now, due to slight warping, the trays only slide comfortably into the slots where they have resided for the last forty years. If the trays are only slightly stiff to move you can improve things by rubbing the runners with candle wax.
Also, you should easily get felt in various colours at most craft shops. I even picked up more than enough to replace some lost felt discs in a kids activity set which I bought at my local supermarket, and there was no waste either as the bits of the "toy" I didn't want were happily received by my eleven year old daughter.

Alex.

[Mark Fox]

Dear Dave and Board,

I would keep it pressed in a vice for a while if you have a large enough one.  Remember to put a block of wood in the tray to support the sides while in the vice.  If you suspect flimsy construction might be contributing to the warping problem, you might want to add some thin sheets of wood to brace and reinforce the sides (from the inside). 

I don't know how your cabinet was constructed, so my suggestions may not help much.  Sounds like a neat project.  I sure hope everything will turn out well!           


Best regards,

Mark Fox
Michigan     

[renegade3220]

The candlewax comment also gave me another idea.  You may try a thin, thin coat of "graphite grease."  I can't think of what it is actually called right now, but it is a paste made from graphite and works great on the interior of door nobs, and basically anything for lubrication.  Since graphite is one of the best lubricants and sticks around practically forever, I love this stuff when anything needs to be "greased."  Last time I used it was after fixing the caliper pins in my mother in laws car.  I no longer have to ever worry about them sticking again! 

If I remember it is expensive though...  If used, don't use a lot!  Just a thought...

[Andrew McCabe]

I had this problem, likely with the same UK brand wooden cabinet. I solved the problem by switching to Abafil trays and dumping my cabinet. The wood of the cabinet trays is not very thick and is quite brittle so any of the vice-like solutions are likely to break them. I indeed broke a couple of trays trying to fix the problem. I don't unfortunately see a good solution having been through the same issue. I recall those particular cabinets were not so expensive and possibly made with insufficiently aged wood.

[millimoo]

Dear all,

Many thanks for your help and comments!

Most of the trays are fine, just 3 or 4 that are too warped to pull out smoothly.  I’m no cabinetmaker, so please forgive my primitive wood working language.

The trays are made from a single sheet of thin and quite brittle looking wood.  The grain runs left to right looking at the front of the tray.  The warp runs front to back, like gentle ripples, some higher in the middle, some higher at the front and / or back.

My biggest fear is that if I try to do too much, the trays might break along the grain, snapping in two.

Dave

[renegade3220]

Hmm..... Do NOT put them in a vice then. I would only recommend what I originally posted. Lay them flat with the warp facing up so you can add weight to the warp and bow it the other way. If you are worried start with a little weight and add more as needed.

[cmcdon0923]

The trays are made from a single sheet of thin and quite brittle looking wood.  The grain runs left to right looking at the front of the tray.  The warp runs front to back, like gentle ripples, some higher in the middle, some higher at the front and / or back.

I build mahogany coin cabinets and at times have to deal with wood that is slightly warped (i.e., cupped) when making the trays.  If, as I assume most trays are built, your trays have edges rabbetted to fit into slots cut into the inside edge of the cabinet's sides, one possible solution is to sand away a bit more of the underside of the "ledge / lip" on the trays in question.  Don't start with an extremely coarse grade of paper....start with 150 grit or so.  Once they trays slide into position more easilly, move up to a finer grit....say 200, to finish the job.  This should make the rails' undersides nice and smooth so that they will slide into place easier.

If you can post an edge-on closeup picture of one of the trays, it might help in coming up with (or confirming) a sloution.